Rev Gav

Trust

Colossians 1.21–23

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him — provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel.

Reflect

The word ‘gospel’ literally means ‘good news’ and in today’s Bible reading, the Apostle Paul sums up the gospel — we, who were once estranged from God, have now been reconciled to God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

During our recent trip to Canada, when we were staying with the wonderful Rev Marie and her family, Marie and I had a discussion about the difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness can be offered and may not be accepted, but for reconciliation to takes place it requires input from both parties. In the same way, we can only be reconciled to God if we, as Paul puts it, <em>’continue securely established and steadfast in the faith.'</em> In other words, for us to be reconciled to God, all we need to do is have faith — putting our trust in Jesus Christ.

We live in a world that makes incredible demands on our time, our talents, our emotions, our intellect, and our physical bodies. There is a burden of expectation that we need to be a certain kind of person and behave a certain kind of way, and we all have expectations that need to be met and responsibilities that we need to bear. The gospel is good news because there is nothing we have to do.

Us pastors can be in grave danger of heaping pressure or guilt on people to behave a certain way, believe in certain things, or ascribe to certain values, but the gospel really is very simple: We trust in Jesus and God makes us holy. There are no caveats, no hoops to jump through, no preconditions, no expectations, and no exceptions. Everything else in our own lives and in how we interact with the world stems from that simple truth.

Today, reflect on the fact that all God calls you to be is you, and that God invites you to lean in for a divine hug.

Trust in God with your mind by making a conscious decision to rely on Jesus Christ.

And trust in God with your emotions by placing a hand on your heart, taking a deep breath, and allowing yourself be loved.

Trust in God with your body by saying out loud, “I believe and trust in you, my God and Saviour, Jesus Christ.”

Pray

Holy God
I believe and trust in you.
Thank you for
reconciling me to yourself
through your Son,
my Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for making
me clean and holy.
Thank you that
there is nothing
I need to do but
place my trust in you.
Yours now and forever.